Investors fret about possible liquidity crunch
Li Chao, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), said on Tuesday that the CSRC is still studying a new registration-based IPO mechanism, according to domestic media reports. [Special coverage]
"I am not saying the IPO mechanism will be delayed, nor am I saying that we are about to launch the new mechanism," domestic news website stcn.com quoted Li as saying on Tuesday.
Dong Dengxin, director of the Finance and Securities Institute at Wuhan University of Science and Technology, told the Global Times on Tuesday that Li's words can be interpreted as a hint that the registration-based IPO mechanism is still on track and will be launched as planned.
On December 27, 2015, the State Council, China's cabinet, was authorized by the top legislature, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, to roll out the new IPO mechanism, the Securities Times reported on December 28 of that year.
The authorization was valid from March 1, 2016 for a 2-year period, which means that the mechanism should be launched by early 2018 at the latest, Dong noted.
However, the new IPO mechanism has become a subject of controversy, with some blaming it for causing volatility in the A-share market.
On February 25, the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets both slumped by more than 6 percent amid rumors that the system was scheduled to start on March 1.
The two markets were stable on Tuesday, with the Shanghai and Shenzhen indexes edging up 0.14 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.
According to Dong, domestic investors are uncertain about the new mechanism.
"The registration-based IPO mechanism is new to the Chinese markets, so investors have some misgivings about it," he noted.
A Shanghai-based stock investor surnamed Dai, who declined to give further identifying details, told the Global Times on Tuesday she is concerned the new mechanism will spark an IPO boom that will soak up market liquidity.
But Dong said that such worries are groundless.
"There's not a uniform pattern for this mechanism. China's registration-based IPO mechanism can be specially designed to suit the domestic markets," he said.
Dong said that market misgivings have the authorities concerned, too. The registration-based IPO mechanism was not mentioned in this year's Government Work Report, released on Saturday.
Dong urged the government to release the draft rules for the mechanism as soon as possible to end market speculation and allow public comment to be collected.
